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Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Back in August last year I visited Government House, run by the Historic Houses Trust, after a good reports from my sister's visit. The house was formerly the official residence of the Governor of New South Wales. It is no longer an official residence, but is still used for official functions meaning that it is only open to visitors at the weekend.

I walked to Government House through Hyde Park and noticed that a lot of the trees have graffiti carved into the bark which I thought was very cool (although it might not be good for the tree).

Visits inside Government House are by a free guided tour only. Our guide was pretty informative telling us about some of the history and current uses of the house. We were shown round some of the state rooms on the ground floor.

I have to be honest and say that I can't remember the tour perfectly being so long ago. There were some nice furnishings and interesting stories relating to various bits of furniture e.g. a sofa purchased especially for the Queen to sit on during one visit. It isn't an enormous building so there are only about five rooms in the tour.

There is a manicured garden which offers a unique angle of the Opera house that is well worth the visit.

I took the below photo of some of the stonework on the outside. I rather like it.